The chemical industry has emphasised that chemicals should not be considered as part of the problem, but part of the solution, for instance in combatting climate change, increasing living standards and health and providing clean water.

The chemical industry has emphasised that chemicals should not be considered as part of the problem, but part of the solution, for instance in combatting climate change, increasing living standards and health and providing clean water. Moreover next to the properties of a substances, the exposure factor should also be taken into account. Therefore, the excellent current SAICM objective should be maintained. This objective is to ensure “the sound management of chemicals to minimize adverse impacts on human health and the environment”. The focus of the work should be on enhancing basic competencies of safe chemicals management in developing countries.

In order to facilitate safe trade and transport, the chemical industry has called for more work on the implementation and enforcement of UN GHS. Possibly this could be included in negotiations about international trade agreements. To the same end, industry supports stimulating high quality safety data sheets and worldwide mutual acceptance of data.

A conference report can be found on the document section of this website (members only).